Wednesday, 30 December 2015

Hello
everyone, another nice day in my part of the world, not too hot nor
too cold just as I said nice. What do I have planned for today,
nothing much, I have gone for my early morning walk and it was nice
out walking today. I am also of course going to see my nanna, and we
are taking Temika & Liarna as they want to go and see
great-nanna.

I
have a small pile of letters to answer, so I want to get a start on
them, although my printer is low on ink and Tim is slow to give me
money for ink and of course I have not been able to find a cheap
genetic brand of ink for my printer, the old printer I could get ink
for only $7 this one it costs $26. So at the moment I can only print
in blue or red, I also can't add photos to my letters as they don't
come out that well.

The
house looks pretty clean most days now, this is due to having Natasha
and Blain here, she is a neat freak and likes to clean. Although
yesterday we did a couple of loads of washing and she would not let
peg the clothes out on the line, why, because I don't peg them out
right, meaning I don't peg them out how she likes. I am not allowed
to vacuum either because I don't do it right. So how do I feel about
that, well if she wants to do these things that is ok with me.

In
other news a family member had a car accident in the early hours of
yesterday, they collided with a park car and I don't think they were
wearing a seat belt as their head hit the windscreen and also they
were drunk as a skunk, what a strange saying as I don't think skunks
drink grog but you know what I mean, well I hope you know what I
mean.

Because
they were so drunk logic was being drowned by the grog and after the
accident they thought it would be a good idea to first try and remove
the licence plates and when that was too hard to do they thought
screw it I will just walk/stumble to where I want to go, so when the
cops turned up they thought it might be a good idea to try and hide
from them cops, why because they were so damn drunk.

Thankfully
the person who had the accident wasn't seriously hurt, and after
being in hospital for most of the day, including a stint in ICU they
were allowed to leave, I won't say go home because that wasn't going
to happen as they were under arrest and was taken from the hospital
to the cop shop. That is all I know at this stage, we all know that
drink driving is stupid but many young people may know it is stupid
when they are so drunk common sense and logic get drowned by the
grog.

This
person is not the first member of the family to attempt to drive
while drunk and I doubt they will be the last family member to
attempt to drive while drunk, many people will go on about how they
don't drink and drive, I included I don't drink and drive but I know
some young people do, yes it is wrong and dangerous but for many it
is just one of them many stupid things they will do.

There
are very few people who can say they didn't do really stupid things
when they were young, I have done stupid things myself way back when
I was younger.

Monday, 28 December 2015

Well the year is coming
to an end, but it isn't over yet so no end of year post just yet,
instead I will tell you a bit about my Christmas. There was only
Tim, Tasha and myself here on Christmas Eve, Blain was at his fathers
and Leo wanted it to be just him and his mum Christmas morning so
they were not here Christmas Eve either.

So we get up around
8ish and gave Natasha her presents and Tim and I exchanged gifts I
gave Tim a gift voucher and he gave me a bunch of clothes which I had
picked out and bought and bagged up, I am ok with that at least I got
stuff I wanted.

Then around 8.30am
Jessica and Leo turned up and we gave them their presents, I love to
watch Leo open presents he gets so excited about every gift, unlike
Blain who is like blah about presents it is rare to get a wow out of
Blain.

Anyway after the
opening of presents we packed the car ready to go to my parents
place, to exchange gifts, I went over around 10ish but Tim and the
girls and Leo didn't turn up till around 11ish.

This year I had not
only Tim but Tasha complaining that I spent too much money and
shouldn't be giving gifts to everyone, in fact this year I didn't
give anything to my nieces or nephews as I felt like I wasn't allowed
to do so.

Also this year I felt
really sad on Christmas morning, I don't know why, in fact to be
honest I have been feeling sad a lot lately and have had many days
when I just want to cry, this morning included.

There was only about a
dozen of us for Christmas lunch, Kathy & Michael were in Sydney
visiting his parents so didn't see them at all Christmas Day, Kathy
and Summer came over on Boxing Day to see us and I gave Summer her
Christmas bag of presents along with Kathy's.

My daughters didn't
stay and my parents place for lunch as both said they would rather be
home alone, Natasha and Blain called in and picked me and Tim up and
brought us home as both Tim and myself had a few drinks I even had a
couple of glasses of wine which is odd for me as I am not a wine
drinker.

I did get a lot of
awesome presents from my family a lot of bath stuff and jewellery and
clothes and such, this picture is one of my gifts that I got.

Natasha thinks my
siblings and others do not appreciate me but I think she is wrong, I
do feel appreciated more or less, yes there have been times when I
have not felt appreciated and taken for granted.

Yesterday Kathy &
Michael came over for lunch and we gave Michael his Christmas gift,
and also gave Sydney-May her bag of presents she seemed to like all
she was given and yes she was excited and that is always a good
thing.

Tasha is off work at
the moment she goes back on the 4th and we have Blain here
this week so he is getting to spend a lot of time with his mum which
makes him happy as he does miss his mum a lot.

Also Jessica brought a gingerbread house for Christmas Day and everyone tried it and most of us liked it but could only eat a small about, talking about ginger made us think of Aunty Joyce who loved her ginger

Saturday, 26 December 2015

Today is Boxing day for me, it has been a quiet day here. Tim is at work and I went over to my parents place to pick up our car. We left it there yesterday and had Natasha drive us home as both Tim and I had a few drinks. Now I will tell you a little about Boxing Day.

Boxing
Day takes place on December 26th and is only celebrated in a few
countries. It was started in the UK about 800 years ago, during the
Middle Ages. It was the day when the alms box, collection boxes for
the poor often kept in churches, were traditionally opened so that
the contents could be distributed to poor people. Some churches still
open these boxes on Boxing Day.

It
might have been the Romans that first brought this type of collecting
box to the UK, but they used them to collect money for the betting
games which they played during their winter celebrations!

In
Holland,
some collection boxes were made out of a rough pottery called
'earthenware' and were shaped like pigs. Perhaps this is where we get
the term 'Piggy Bank'!

The
Christmas
Carol,
Good King Wenceslas, is set on Boxing Day and is about a King in the
Middle Ages who brings food to a poor family.

It
was also traditional that servants got the day off to celebrate
Christmas with their families on Boxing Day. Before World War II, it
was common for working people (such as milkmen and butchers) to
travel round their delivery places and collect their Christmas box or
tip. This tradition has now mostly stopped and any Christmas tips,
given to people such as postal workers and newspaper delivery
children, are not normally given or collected on Boxing Day.

Boxing
Day has now become another public holiday in countries such as the
UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It is also the traditional day
that Pantomimesstarted
to play. There are also often sports played on Boxing Day in the UK,
especially horse racing and football matches!

The
26th December is also St. Stephen's Day. Just to confuse things,
there are two St. Stephens in history! The first St. Stephen was a
very early follower of Jesus and was the first Christian Martyr (a
person who dies for their religious beliefs). He was stoned to death
by Jews who didn't believe in Jesus.

The
second St. Stephen was a Missionary, in Sweden, in the 800s. He loved
all animals but particularly horses (perhaps why there is
traditionally horse racing on boxing day). He was also a martyr and
was killed by pagans in Sweden. In Germany there was a tradition that
horses would be ridden around the inside of the church during the St.
Stephen's Day service!

Thursday, 24 December 2015

Christmas
is full of old traditions, like eating turkey on Christmas day,
sending out Christmas cards, hanging tinselaround
the house, but why do we do it and how did it originate? Here’s the
facts.

Turkeys
were first bought into Britain in 1526, before this time, for
Christmas meals people used to eat geese, boars’ head and even
peacocks.

Turkeys
were eaten instead of cows and chickens because the farmers needed
their cows more for their milk, and needed their chickens for the
eggs, which back then were more expensive than they are today. So
instead of killing off one of their livestock for Christmas, they’d
have a turkey as it was something different and they could save their
livestock to produce more milk and eggs..

Henry
VIII was the first person to eat a turkey on Christmas Day, however
it wasn’t until the 1950’s that the turkey was a more popular
Christmas meal choice than the goose.

The
good thing about Christmas Day and turkeys is that Christmas is a
family time, and turkeys are family size!

87%
of British people believe that Christmas would not be the same
without a traditional roast turkey.

Today
in the UK, we eat around 10 million turkeys every year for Christmas
time.

25%
of British people buy their turkeys months in advance.

A
survey shows that the top three most popular ways to serve leftover
Christmas turkey are: sandwiches, soups/stews or salads.

Wednesday, 23 December 2015

If you can't get a chance to visit a loved one in a nursing home this Christmas you should had made the effort and sent them a Christmas card, you may think what's the point the person won't know the difference but the staff will as will those who do find the time to visit, your loved one isn't dead yet they have just reached a stage when they need more care

Tuesday, 22 December 2015

The
Holly, Ivy and Christmas Plants

Holly,
Ivy and other greenery such as Mistletoe were originally used in
pre-Christian times to help celebrate the Winter Solstice Festival
and ward off evil spirits and to celebrate new growth.

When
Christianity came into Western Europe, some people wanted to keep the
greenery, to give it Christian meanings but also to ban the use of it
to decorate homes. The UK and Germany were the main countries to keep
the use of the greenery as decorations. Here are the Christian
meanings:

Holly

The
prickly leaves represent the crown of thorns that Jesus wore when he
was crucified. The berries are the drops of blood that were shed by
Jesus because of the thorns.

In
Scandinavia it is known as the Christ Thorn.

In
pagan times, Holly was thought to be a male plant and Ivy a female
plant. An old tradition from the Midlands of England says that
whatever one was brought into the house first over winter, tells you
whether the man or woman of the house would rule that year! But it
was unlucky to bring either into a house before Christmas Eve.

Ivy

Ivy
has to cling to something to support itself as it grows. This reminds
us that we need to cling to God for support in our lives.

In
Germany, it is traditional that Ivy is only used outside and a piece
tied to the outside of a Church was supposed to protect it from
lightning!

Laurel

Laurel
has been worn as a wreath on the head to symbolise success and
victory for thousands of years.

Monday, 21 December 2015

Another
day to make one feel like they are melting when they step outside
into the heat. When I was out shopping this morning the shopping
centre I went to had people handing out free bottles of water near
the entrance.

I
am done and dusted with my Christmas shopping, except for Tim I will
have to pop out and get his present sometime this week. He is hard to
buy for but then in many ways so am I. Why well because we pretty
much have everything we want or need.

Have
to say it is working out ok with Natasha living here, as the house is
clean more often then not, she is a bit of a clean freak unlike me I
am it looks good enough type of person.

This
afternoon Tasha is at work, Tim is at work so I have had a quiet
afternoon home alone, which you all know I so like.

However,
I have to say that at times I feel like she wants to change who I am
and that isn't going to happen. Like her father she thinks I buy too
many Christmas presents and give presents to too many members of the
family. I take after my mum and she takes after her mum we are givers
this is who we are, please don't try and change me.

With
less then a week to go till the big day, I am feeling nice and
relaxed, I don't stress over Christmas and have to say my mum doesn't
really s tress over it either. It is a busy day and such but it is
also a loving family day and when I get home fro my parents place in
the afternoon I am glad the day is over. I often have a nap when I
get home on Christmas Day, it is also one of the few days that I
actually drink well more then one or two drinks I may get a little
tipsy on Christmas Day but I can at 53 I am allowed to have a few
drinks on such a wonderful day.

Sunday, 20 December 2015

Hello
world it is now Sunday for me and have to say the last two days
seemed busy, ok Friday is always busy I know this but Saturday yeah
it was busy as well. I went out to Wallsend for Jessica a drive of
about 10-15 minutes to get something she wanted for Leo. Anyway I get
to the shop and they are closed it was 9am and they didn't open to
10am would had been nice if she told me that in the first place. So I
will have to go back there for her tomorrow as they are not open on
Sunday.

This
Sunday I am not having breakfast or lunch for the family, why you
wonder, well I will tell you I really need to sort out the Christmas
presents and yes I know I have been saying I would do them for the
last week or so but I mean it today I will get it all sorted. I just
hope once I have done that I do not discover that I have to get more
stuff.

Speaking
of Monday, ok not speaking of Monday but anyway a Monday thought came
to me tomorrow Monday I will have to go and get Tim's Christmas
present although not sure what the hell I am going to get him I was
thinking of a battery pack starter thing, you know the thing one
uses to start a car with a flat battery that is suppose to be better
then using jump leads from another car. I am just not sure about it,
I might get him a gift card from Supercheap instead, I will decide
tomorrow.

We
also have had a few stinking hot days again temps in the high 30's
today it is suppose to be around 37°c and tomorrow it is suppose to
be hotter still. Although have to say it was nice when I went for my
walk this morning not hot at all, although I did leave home at around
6.20am.

Can
you believe that Christmas is less then a week away, bloody hell,
this year I don't think Jessica is coming here for Christmas Eve, she
was going to but I think Leo said he would like it to be just him and
mummy Christmas morning.

Kathy
and Michael are going to Sydney with the girls Christmas Eve to see
his parents and will be home here sometime in the afternoon of
Christmas Day, she was concerned that me and her dad would have a
problem with that but nope we don't, we get it there are times she
needs to be with Michael and his family and this is one of those
times. Michael's father isn't very well at the moment.

Blain
is at his fathers this week he will be home again on either Thursday
afternoon or Friday afternoon he went to his dads a day early as
Kelli was in the area on Thursday and picked him up made more sense
to do that then come back the next day just to get him, it is a 40
minute drive to his dads place.

Most
of yesterday afternoon Natasha was asleep on the lounge, Tim said she
should had gone to bed but she preferred to lay on the lounge, it
didn't bother me and if she was content to sleep there the so be it,
might have been cooler for her as we had the air con going and the
lounge room was not too hot, unlike her bedroom which with the door
closed was like an oven.

Tim
is working this afternoon and I am hoping the bus he is in is air
conditioned you might think der of course it would be but you would
be wrong there has been other days when it has been stinking bloody
hot and he had been in a non air conditioned bus or a bus that the
air conditioning isn't working in. Which really annoys the hell out
of both of us with temps in the high 30's a body can suffer from heat
stroke, but do the idiots in charge give a rats ass, nope.

Thursday, 17 December 2015

Wednesday, 16 December 2015

Well
today is the last day of school for the year and both boys Blain &
Leo are having the day off, even though teachers will say that
lessons are taught right up to the last bell of the day, anyone who
has been to school on the last day know that is a load of rubbish. In
fact usually students spend the day helping the teachers pack up
stuff and many teachers take in DVD's and the children watch movies.

Yesterday
Blain's school went to the pool for the day, Leo's school have had a
water fun day held at the school and when I picked Leo up yesterday
he had a Christmas bag with lollies and toys in which everyone in his
class received.

My
own girls had the choice of whether they wanted to attend school on
the last day of the year as well, sometimes they would go other times
they chose to have the day off.

When
I was speaking to mum last night she was telling me that my brother
asked if she would take the girls (his daughters) to school as well
as taking Landon to day care and Dawson to work experience. Dawson
wanted to go to his work experience he enjoys it so much.

Now
my parents only have a small fart-ass little car and it is difficult
to fit me and the two girls in the back seat, Dawson of course will
not sit in the back and yeah I know some people might say that Dawson
is the child and should sit in the back but to be honest I don't care
I am ok with sitting in the back. This is the thing though when she
was trying to explain to Dave that there may not be room for all of
us he couldn't get it, his answer was take Landon's car seat out to
make room which mum would do anyway,as it turned there was plenty of
room in the car.

Just
had a nap, and Jessica woke be by walking into the bedroom and
yelling so that I jumped with fright, not funny Jessica.

So
question for the day is do your children go or went to school on the
last day of the school year?

Tuesday, 15 December 2015

The
custom of sending Christmas cards was started in the UK way back in
1843 by Sir Henry Cole. He was a civil servant (Government worker)
who was very interested in the new 'Public Post Office' and wondered
how it could be used more by ordinary people.

Sir
Henry had the idea of Christmas Cards with his friend John Horsley,
who was an artist. They designed the first card and sold them for 1
shilling each. (That is only 5p or 8 cents today(!), but in those
days it was worth much much more.) The card had three panels. The
outer two panels showed people caring for the poor and in the centre
panel was a family having a large Christmas dinner! Some people
didn't like the card because it showed a child being given a glass of
wine! About 1000 (or it might have been less!) were printed and sold.
They are now very rare and cost thousands of Pounds or Dollars to buy
now!

The
first postal service that ordinary people could use was started in
1840 when the first 'Penny Post' public postal deliveries began.
Before that, only very rich people could afford to send anything in
the post. The new Post Office was able to offer a Penny stamp because
new railways were being built. These could carry much more post than
the horse and carriage that had been used before. Also, trains could
go a lot faster. Cards became even more popular in the UK when they
could be posted in an unsealed envelope for one halfpenny - half the
price of an ordinary letter.

As
printing methods improved, Christmas cards became much more popular
and were produced in large numbers from about 1860. In 1870 the cost
of sending a post card, and also Christmas cards, dropped to half a
penny. This meant even more people were able to send cards.

An
engraved card by the artist William Egley, who illustrated some of
Charles Dickens's books, is on display in the British Museum. By the
early 1900s, the custom had spread over Europe and had become
especially popular in Germany.

The
first cards usually had pictures of the Nativity scene on them. In
late Victorian times, robins (an English bird) and snow-scenes became
popular. In those times the postmen were nicknamed 'Robin Postmen'
because of the red uniforms they wore. Snow-scenes were popular
because they reminded people of the very bad winter that happened in
the UK in 1836.

Christmas
Cards appeared in the United States of America in the late 1840s, but
were very expensive and most people couldn't afford them. It 1875,
Louis Prang, a printer who was originally from German but who had
also worked on early cards in the UK, started mass producing cards so
more people could afford to buy them. Mr Prang's first cards featured
flowers, plants, and children. In 1915, John C. Hall and two of his
brothers created Hallmark Cards, who are still one of the biggest
card makers today!

In
the 1910s and 1920s, home made cards became popular. They were often
unusual shapes and had things such as foil and ribbon on them. These
were usually too delicate to send through the post and were given by
hand.

Nowadays,
cards have all sorts of pictures on them: jokes, winter pictures,
Santa Claus or romantic scenes of life in past times. Charities often
sell their own Christmas Cards as a way raising money at Christmas.

Charities
also make money from seals or stickers used to seal the card
envelopes. This custom started in Denmark in the early 1900s by a
postal worker who thought it would be a good way for charities to
raise money, as well as making the cards more decorative. It was a
great success: over four million were sold in the first year!

Soon
other countries such as Sweden and Norwayadopted
the custom and then it spread all over Europe and to America.

I
personally send out a lot of Christmas cards to my family and pen
friends I also now send out some Christmas Ecards but to be honest I
prefer the traditional Christmas card over an Ecard, yes Ecards are
ok and I do get a number of them but I like being able to hang my
Christmas cards on the wall for all to see.

Monday, 14 December 2015

Hello
everyone, me and blogging didn't go well together for the most part
of last week, I was busy doing one thing or another most of the week
and every time I sat at the computer to write a post it didn't happen
because other things got in the way.

So
here we are on a Monday afternoon and it's been close to a week since
I wrote anything.

Saturday
was “My Blain”'s 10th birthday damn those 10 years
have gone fast he spent most of the day with his dad and came back
her around 5.30pm and spent the night and all day Sunday here with
his mum. He did appear to like his presents which of course makes us
adults happy, although he is like his mum in that he doesn't show a
lot of excitement over presents. Sunday his mum cooked one of his
favourite meals for lunch and I had bought a cake for him.

This
morning I had to drive my dad to an appointment after I took Leo to
school, only 2 more days of school for the year then the children are
off till the end of January. I am one of those strange people who
like school holidays, I have no problem with having the children home
for 6 weeks although I know some who find school holidays a nightmare
and can't wait till it starts again.

Although
I know some who feel they need to find ways to entertain their
children when they are not at school, I don't, no one had to
entertain me when I was a child I was able to find plenty to do on my
own and I think most children can do so. I rarely sent my girls to
vacation care, which is run by different groups with activities for
children over the school holidays. I did send the one year for a
couple of days but over all nope couldn't afford it and they managed
just find, they found things to do at home that didn't involve me.

Now
I have no problem with parents who like to play games with their
children but it wasn't me, I am just not like that my parents didn't
feel the need to play games with their children we turned out ok.

There
is only 1 more birthday for the year and that is Jonathon's (Blain's
dad) his is on the 23rd then there are more birthdays
come January. Yes I buy Jono a birthday present not over the top but
something have done for as long as I have know him pretty much and
since Blain is now 10 you can take a stab at how long I have known
him, but if you like I can tell you I think it is 12 years I am
pretty sure he was only 16 when I met him.

I
will try and do better at posting stuff this week but with Christmas
so damn close I have other stuff I need to do like finish sorting out
the presents, but first I need to buy a few more large gift bags got
plenty of smaller ones but ran out of large bags. Yes I am a gift bag
person, this is because I suck at wrapping presents, gift bags just
makes it all so much easier and the clean up is easy as well.

Tuesday, 8 December 2015

The
custom of burning the Yule Log goes back to, and before, medieval
times. It was originally a Nordic tradition. Yule is the name of the
old Winter Solstice festivals in Scandinavia and other parts of
northern Europe, such as Germany.

The
Yule Log was originally an entire tree, that was carefully chosen and
brought into the house with great ceremony. The largest end of the
log would be placed into the fire hearth while the rest of the tree
stuck out into the room! The log would be lit from the remains of the
previous year's log which had been carefully stored away and slowly
fed into the fire through the Twelve Days of Christmas. It was
considered important that the re-lighting process was carried out by
someone with clean hands. Nowadays, of course, most people have
central heating so it is very difficult to burn a tree!

In
parts of France it is traditional that the whole family helps to cut
the log down and that a little bit is burnt each night. If any of the
log is left after Twelfth Night, it is kept safe in the house until
the next Christmas to protect against lightning! In some parts of
Holland, this was also done, but the log had to be stored under a
bed! In some eastern European countries, the log was cut down on
Christmas Eve morning and lit that evening.

In
Cornwall (in theUK), the log is called 'The Mock'. The log is dried
out and then the bark is taken off it before it comes into the house
to be burnt. Also in the UK, barrel makers (or Coopers as barrel
makers were traditionally called) gave their customers old logs that
they could not use for making barrels for Yule logs. (My surname is
Cooper, but I don't make barrels! My Great Grandfather did own a
walking stick factory though!)

The
custom of the Yule Log spread all over Europe and different kids of
wood are used in different countries. In England, Oak is traditional;
in Scotland, it is Birch; while in France, it's Cherry. Also, in
France, the log is sprinkled with wine, before it is burnt, so that
it smells nice when it is lit.

In
Devon and Somerset in the UK, some people have a very large bunch of
Ash twigs instead of the log. This comes from a local legend that
Joseph, Mary and Jesus were very cold when the shepherds found them
on Christmas Night. So the shepherds got some bunches of twigs to
burn to keep them warm.

In
some parts of Ireland, people have a large candle instead of a log
and this is only lit on New Year's Eve and Twelfth Night.

Different
chemicals can be sprinkled on the log like wine to make the log burn
with different coloured flames!

Potassium
Nitrate = Violet

Barium
Nitrate = Apple Green

Borax
= Vivid Green

Copper
Sulphate = Blue

Table
Salt = Bright Yellow

A
Chocolate Yule Log or 'bûche de Noël' is now a popular Christmas
desert or pudding. It's traditionally eaten in France and Belgium,
where they are known as 'Kerststronk' in Flemish.

They
are made of a chocolate sponge roll layered with cream. The outside
is covered with chocolate or chocolate icing and decorated to look
like a bark-covered log.

Monday, 7 December 2015

One
of the most visible signs of Christmas in Australia each year is the
Christmas Lights displays. A very large number of families display a
Christmas light of some type, lighting up their home and saying to
all passers by; "Peach on earth and goodwill to all". It
might be a Christmas tree with lights showing through the window. A
string of icicle lights are very popular. Possibly a Garden tree
covered with a net light or a string of fairy lights.

Some
families take Christmas lights to a whole new level each year adding
to their collection of Christmas lights decorating their home and the
most dedicated even have a collection of Christmas ornaments on
display through window boxes.

Multitudes
of families travel around these highly decorated homes and get out
and walk up to the most interesting homes during December evenings,
leading up to Christmas. These outings are fantastic, free,
fun-filled outings for families with small children.

Many
of the dedicated people that decorate their homes so elegantly with
Christmas lighting, to entertain Australia's children, are so
generous with their time that they also collect funds for charity
and/or sell raffle tickets.

So do you have Christmas lights at your place?

I do not, I would like to but Tim isn't so keen and even though I have been asking him to set some up for me he still hasn't done anything about it. I bought some solar powered lights so no extra high power bills.

Sunday, 6 December 2015

Hello Sunday, I didn't
go for a walk this morning just didn't feel up to do so, the girls
and Michael here for lunch, did home made pizza's. So Jessica hadn't
turned up by 11am so Natasha rang her and she said she didn't feel
like pizza and wasn't coming, that is ok not the end of the world but
wouldn't have hurt for her to let me know. During the week Kathy
asked Michael what he would like for lunch he said home made pizza so
I did home made pizza, teach him to tell me what he wants. He told
Kathy bugga your mum, I say pizza, she makes pizza, now I have to go
no matter how I feel.

This week I will stop
talking about sorting out the Christmas presents and in fact sort
them out but really have to do with when Tim isn't around as I
honestly don't want to listen to him complain about how much I have
bought for each person.

It is a very warm day
but no air con this morning maybe after ever one has gone home well
not Tasha as she is home, speaking of Tasha she has been cleaning the
bathroom this morning the sink, toilet and bath and now she is
vacuuming the house, remember she is a neat freak and we love her.

Tim this morning went
to the toy run, this toy
run:http://www.toyrun.org.au/index.php?page=newcastle
he goes most years and this year he asked Jessica to go with him but
she changed her mind this morning and didn't feel like going. I often
don't feel like doing things I said I would do but guess what I said
I would do it and generally I would do it because I said I would.

While searching for
more Christmas cards I found some more decorations that I have now
put up I asked Summer if she wanted to help me but she wanted them in
Uncle Tasha's room, yes she calls Aunty Tasha, Uncle Tasha.

I would like the air
conditioner on but no one else things it is needed, so I will not be
having it on for a while, maybe when Kathy leaves and I sit down to
do the medication and such I will turn it on.

Friday, 4 December 2015

The
History of Christmas Crackers

Christmas
crackers are a traditional Christmas favourite in the UK. They were
first made in about 1845-1850 by a London sweet maker called Tom
Smith. He had seen the French 'bon bon' sweets (almonds wrapped in
pretty paper). He came back to London and tried selling sweets like
that in England and also included a small motto or riddle in with the
sweet. But they didn't sell very well.

However,
one night, while he was sitting in front of his log fire, he became
very interested by the sparks and cracks coming from the fire.
Suddenly, he thought what a fun idea it would be, if his sweets and
toys could be opened with a crack when their fancy wrappers were
pulled in half.

Crackers
were originally called 'cosaques' and were thought to be named after
the 'Cossack' soldiers who had a reputation for riding on their
horses and firing guns into the air!

When
Tom died, his expanding cracker business was taken over by his three
sons, Tom, Walter and Henry. Walter introduced the hats into crackers
and he also travelled around the world looking for new ideas for
gifts to put in the crackers.

The
company built up a big range of 'themed' crackers. There were ones
for bachelors and spinsters (single men and women), where the gifts
were things like false teeth and wedding rings! There were also
crackers for Suffragettes (women who campaigned to get women the
vote), war heroes and even Charlie Chaplain! Crackers were also made
for special occasions like Coronations. The British Royal Family
still has special crackers made for them today!

Very
expensive crackers were made such as the 'Millionaire's Crackers'
which contained a solid silver box with a piece of gold and silver
jewerlly inside it!

Cracker
manufacturers also made large displays, such as horse drawn carriages
and sleighs, for the big shops in London.

The
Christmas Crackers that are used today are short cardboard tubes
wrapped in colourful paper. There is normally a Cracker next to each
plate on the Christmas dinner table. When the crackers are pulled -
with a bang! - a colourful party hat, a toy or gift and a festive
joke falls out! The party hats look like crowns and it is thought
that they symbolise the crowns that might have been worn by the Wise
Men.

Crackers
are famous for their bad jokes

The
world's longest Christmas cracker measured 63.1m (207ft) long and 4m
(13ft) in diameter and was made by the parents of children at Ley
Hill School and Pre-School, Chesham, Buckinghamshire, UK on 20
December 2001. Now that would be one big bang!

The
biggest Christmas cracker pull was done by 1,478 people at an event
organised by Honda Japan at Tochigi Proving Ground, Tochigi, Japan,
on 18 October 2009. Now that would be a lot of bangs!

Thursday, 3 December 2015

Good
afternoon all, it getting on to 5pm and have to say I have had a
exhausting day doing nothing much, I drove the boys to school this
morning then went with Natasha to hand in the keys for her house, she
is all moved in here now and my house is so cluttered and one can
barely move. I would sort it our but Natasha has OCD and can't handle
others going through her stuff so she wants to sort it all out
herself.

Natasha
is one of those people who doesn't need a lot of sleep, she gets up
as early as 2am and as late as 5am she says she likes the quiet time
before Blain gets up and wants her attention. Remember Natasha works
nights as a cleaner, well we say nights but she starts in the
afternoon and finishes anywhere between 8-12pm.

I
also managed to go to the library this morning to return items and
borrow more, the library is one of the best ideas around. There is
no way I could afford to buy heaps of books I also borrow many
recorded books, aka, books on cd which I listen to while I am
driving.

Yesterday
my mum gave me an early Christmas present a necklace with Scorpio on
it which I really like. I also gave her a in loving memory frame for
her to put a photo of her dad in and hang it on their Christmas tree,
I had two and gave them both to mum but told her to give one to my
brother in-law so he can put a photo of his mum in it.

I
really need to sort out Christmas presents this weekend, I will be
getting a layby out tomorrow and sort through it and I think I might
have to return a few items as the child there were bought for is no
longer interested in the item, movie, tv show that I bought the toy
in, if that makes any sense if not sorry not sure how to explain what
I mean.

Wednesday, 2 December 2015

Tuesday, 1 December 2015

The
History of Christmas Trees

In
Germany, the first Christmas Trees were decorated with edible things,
such as gingerbread and gold covered apples. Then glass makers made
special small ornaments similar to some of the decorations used
today. In 1605 an unknown German wrote: "At Christmas they set
up fir trees in the parlours of Strasbourg and hang thereon roses cut
out of many-coloured paper, apples, wafers, gold foil, sweets, etc."

At
first, a figure of the Baby Jesus was put on the top of the tree.
Over time it changed to an angel/fairy that told the shepherds about
Jesus, or a star like the Wise men saw.

The
first Christmas Trees came to Britain sometime in the 1830s. They
became very popular in 1841, when Prince Albert (Queen Victoria's
German husband) had a Christmas Tree set up in Windsor Castle. In
1848, drawing of "The Queen's Christmas tree at Windsor Castle"
was published in the Illustrated London News, 1848. The drawing was
republished in Godey's Lady's Book, Philadelphia in December 1850
(but they removed the Queen's crown and Prince Albert's moustache to
make it look 'American'!).

The
publication of the drawing helped Christmas Trees become popular in
the UK and USA.

In
Victorian times, the tree would have been decorated with candles to
represent stars. In many parts of Europe, candles are still widely
used to decorate Christmas trees.

Tinsel
was also created in Germany, were it was originally made from thin
strips of beaten silver. But when plastic/man made tinsel was
invented it became very popular as it was much cheaper than real
silver and also lighter to go on the tree!

One
legend says that the Christ Child first made tinsel by turning
spider's webs into silver after taking pity on a poor family that
couldn't afford any decorations for their Christmas Tree!

Because
of the danger of fire, in 1895 Ralph Morris, an American telephonist,
invented the first electric Christmas lights, similar to the ones we
use today.

In
1885 a hospital in Chicago burned down because of candles on a
Christmas Tree! And in 1908 insurance companies in the USA tried to
get a law made that would ban candles from being used on Christmas
Trees because of the many fires they had caused! So we have to say a
big thank you to Ralph Morris for making Christmas safer!